Turlough O’Brien and Colm Bonnar will continue as Carlow football and hurling managers for 2019.

A lot of folk talk about putting their bodies on the line for their teams. Paul Broderick went and did it, time and again, over the course of a decade and more that delivered little in the way of silver or spotlight.

John Murphy can pinpoint the exact moment the penny dropped.

One of the most impressive statistics in the Championship season and one that is unlikely to be repeated, was the fact that Carlow did not record a single wide in their Leinster quarter-final win over Kildare, their first over the Lilywhites since 1953.

Once upon a time, former senior manager Jack O’Connor thought it would be a good idea to bring in a sport psychologist to do a group session with the Kerry players of the last decade.

Carlow’s footballers have record an upset for the ages with a stunning, and ultimately comprehsenive, Leinster quarter-final defeat of neighbours Kildare on Sunday afternoon.

Kilkenny 2-14 Carlow 2-12: They never actually trailed but Kilkenny still departed Netwatch Cullen Park wiping beads of sweat from their brow last night.

Daniel St Ledger turned to referee Paddy Neilan late on Saturday evening and enquired how much was left on the watch. “12 minutes”, replied the Roscommon official. “It felt like an eternity,” the Carlow football captain admitted yesterday.